Most grocery retailers are nowhere close to delivering the personalized experiences that their customers expect. Many have not even taken the essential first step of defining what personalization means to their customers and business. And without guidance, grocers are often unclear about which capabilities to build to create a truly personalized experience.
Technology is Just One Piece of Personalization
Despite growing pressures to show results and generate returns on personalization investments, grocers need to exercise caution when investing in personalization tools. Delivering the right intelligence and managing customer data to support the best personalization will take working with the right technology partner.
WATCH VIDEO: Grocers Find Growth Through Optimized Personalization
Successful personalization relies on advanced technology to provide customers with a valuable experience.
However, technology is just one piece of the puzzle.
Establishing Trust Comes First
Creating personalization requires:
- Intimate knowledge of your customer’s lifestyle
- Relevant content that drives action
- Technology that helps deliver and measure experiences
To gain access to that kind of information requires trust. Here are three things your customers need from you before you can launch successfully into your personalization goals.
Three Ways to Build Trust
#1: Customers Need to Feel Secure
First, make sure your customers feel secure when they shop with you. Even if you aren’t using an eCommerce platform, your customers will still be visiting your website, engaging with your social channels, receiving your circulars, using your mobile apps, and interacting with your store in a variety of ways. The amount of security they feel while they are with you can play a significant role in how much they trust your brand.
#2: Customers Need to Feel Helped
Trust becomes fragile when customers have an issue with something. If they experience a problem and receive prompt, helpful and memorable customer service, they’ll think of your store as a reliable brand.
But if you drop the ball, you’ll lose a customer forever and likely experience a dip in your reputation. Whenever you can, go all-out in your customer service. Don’t just turn to the most cost-efficient way to resolve a problem; make sure your customers feel heard and appreciated, and go out of your way to make them happy.
You make your customers feel great every day, and Webstop can deliver personalization that will help them feel like you’ve added another layer to make their life more convenient.
#3: Customers Need to Be Rewarded
To maintain trust and build long-term loyalty among customers, make sure you incentivize them. The best and most straightforward way to do this is by implementing a loyalty program. Existing customers are 50% more likely to try new products than new customers. Offering loyalty programs to existing customers who are already interested in specific products only strengthen their ties to your business and lets them know that you appreciate them.
Offering perks such as insider info, exclusive deals, and special sales are also examples of building loyalty rewards. Webstop Personalization can be the foundation of a future loyalty offering for your shoppers.
Webstop Knows Personalization
Personalization is a way to delight your customers, but there are practical steps you can take every day to make your customer’s experience better. Do not underestimate what trust can do for your store—especially when 83% of customers say they would happily recommend a brand to others if they trusted it, and 82% will continue to use that brand frequently.
To help our grocers advance their efforts, Webstop has partnered with Dave Carlson and Jim Dippold, experts in analytics, personalization, and customer behavior strategies for Tier 1 retailers. Jim has first-hand experience with major retailers in marketing, replenishment, and merchandising. Dave has designed and delivered business intelligence applications used by most US CPG manufacturers and retailers. With their expertise, Webstop has developed an innovative approach that grocers can use to elevate their level of personalization.
Building trust and loyalty among customers is something that takes time and resources. Always keep in mind that your customers want to feel heard and appreciated, much like a friend. The more ways you can show them they are valued, the more they will trust you and remain loyal to your store.
